which tomatoes to grow.....

I cant believe February is already here. What happened to January……
oh yes i remember snow and ice……so as ever im already behind with the ‘plan’…..
here at the nursery its a busy time getting everything ready for the comming season. my husband Julian has already started off seeds of tomatoes. i know its early but we have to take the risk as we sell some of the plants at the local market. at one point last year when confronted with tall spindly little seedlings we were regretting the early start, but mostly they went on to be strong healthy plants. last year was the first year we had grown soo many varieties of tomatoes 14 all together…..
deciding which ones to grow this year was easy for some of the varieties….

German Red Strawberry…the plants only produced a few fruits each but the biggest one wieghed in at over 2lb in wieght………
why strawberry….it looked like a cluster of them and when u sliced the fruilt it was very fleshy…hardly any seeds…lovely colour and was great to eat..
.it was so big we carved it and it was a case of one slice or two….;-))

Ildi….small grape sized yellow tomatoes….soo many fruits of each truss its unbelievable. they taste very sweet just like sweets. we were picking bowls and bowls full. eaten on their own…in salads…currys yes currys…hot curry then an explasion of sweeet tomato…

all the colours and shapes tastes and textures were greeted with ohh and ahhs by all who tasted and saw them.

one of Julians favorite was speckled roman and is another one we have decided to grow again…..we harvested lots off these plants and they looked so good…

jersey devil is another

it looks like a pepper but trust me it tastes lovely…

amish gold is also going again..big golden fruit that i just loved to pick and eat. i was like eating a peach…..as is japanese trifle black. not realy black but very dark in places….photos gone astray sorry…

they are the favorites from last year….

on to the new ones…
this year we are adding a yellow brandy wine ..big fruit

we will also be planting some shirley who cropped for us last year right up till november…

Julian moved things inside today and enjoyed sowong the seeds and watching man united beat arsenel on the tv…all the seeds are sown now and tomorrow we will turn the gas on in the seed chamber…..so fingers crossed that we dont get another very cold spell or the gas bills will be huge……..and that we will get a good harvest like last year….

Comments

Wow unbelievable! I did not realize there could be so many different sorts of Tomatoes...I am just amazed! Now I want a green house more than ever...do you have to grow them inside for the whole time? Or do you get a long enough and hot enough summer?

When I lived in southern washinton state..we could grow tomatoes like crazy...sometimes we had to bring them in if there was an early frost. We hung them upside down in our basement for them to ripen or took them all and wrapped them in newspaper all seperate and stored them in a box to ripen in the dark cool of the basement...that worked pretty well...but most often we did not have to worry as long as we got them planted early enough. Here it is Greenhouses only as well...too cool and windy...

Just read this blog, so you have answered my question regarding which tomatoes will you be growing this year.........fascinating varieties, good luck with them, look forward to seeing the finished product!

Oh, Sandra, so many varieties...you've beaten me! :) Last year I grew ten sorts and hybrides. It was a "tomatoes" year! But my Grandma grows so many varieties that she even doesn't know how many! And nobody knows! :)
My veg garden is not so big as yours, so there were five plants of each variety for our kitchen use. And I see that you grow your tomatoes in the greenhouse, my ones are outside because we have very hot summers. You know it's very good for the sweetness. Also I produce some young plants for my parents, they have a big market garden.
Love your "Jersey Devil" tomato! It looks really good! Love"Ildi" and, of course, "German Red Strawberry", it is very very good! In my country such sorts of tomatoes are liked most of all. They are favourites - pink or red.
I know that you'll make a right choice as for adding new varieties! Good luck and fingers crossed! Wish you WARM February and Spring! ...and hope that your gas bill will not be huge. :)

Thanks Uma...i so enjoyed growing them last year. its just too windy outside here for tomatoes. they do cope but dont produce much fruit. i was amazed by the red strawbeery ones, such good flavour and huge size...i think the amish gold were my fav tasting...i didnt know u could get pink ones....the gas is soo expensive and today i have had to leave it on all day as the sun is not out...only have to heat them for 4-6 weeks so not tooo bad...;-)) Sandra.

I found a packet of Heirloom Tomato seeds Sandra..so happy to find them..not sure which I will get..they say Varieties subject to availability and then give this long list..
Black Prince, Early, Cascade, Evergreen, Flame Orange, Garden Peach, Green Zebra, Jubilee, Lime Green Salad, Jubilee, Pink Ping Pong, Pink Oxheart, Prudens Purple, Silvery Fir Tree, Sundrop and Tigrella, Pineapple, Black Krim, Black from Tula, Cream Sausage, Brandywine Pink, Cherokee purple...
I almost bought a whole packet of the Cherokee Purple because they had that one..in a packet by itself...but I had to get the variety, could not resist..now I will not know which though..should be interesting anyway..lol...my sis told me that she grew the Brandywine Pink and liked it very much.

the yellow ones were my favorite tasting last year. one of my customers told me they were less acidic. amish gold was like earing a peach...and ildi got sweeter laster in the summer and produced right up till october.